By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MOUNT ADAMS - When Junior wasn't in his usual spot last week at Yesterdays bar, patrons accustomed to seeing the black Labrador learned he'd been attacked by a pit bull.

Junior, who just turned 10, is recovering after surgery. Now he may become the catalyst for Cincinnati City Council to look into what some members think is inadequate enforcement of the city's ordinance against vicious dogs.

Liane Axe brought pictures of the dog's wounds Tuesday to council's Law and Public Safety Committee, where she wanted to know why the police haven't been able to do anything about the repeated calls she and her neighbors have made about pit bulls. She said they run free along Ring Place in Price Hill where she and Junior's owner, Robert Reese, live.

Several council members said they've had many complaints about enforcement of the pit bull ban, which went into effect in November. The ordinance says only pit bulls registered before Nov. 1 can stay in the city. Anyone caught violating the ordinance can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.

Councilman Pat DeWine, who wrote the ordinance, said it seems Cincinnati police and the Hamilton County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals haven't decided which of them enforces what.

"As far as I can tell," he said, "no one's enforcing the law."

David Pepper, committee chairman, said he'd set up a hearing in either two or four weeks at which both the police and the SPCA can explain what they're doing.

Capt. Dan Gerard, an acting assistant chief, helped Axe with phone numbers to call for help and told her to contact him again if she doesn't get satisfaction with District 3 leadership or the SPCA.

It's too soon to say, Axe said, when Junior might return to Yesterdays, where Reese tends bar. Junior and Barkley, Reese's 12-year-old black Lab, have visited the bar for years.

"He's going to get better,'' Axe said. "He's getting spunkier every day.''

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com